Even a blind miner occasionally finds a diamond. That seems to have been the case when the miners -- otherwise known as LSU Board of Supervisors -- hired F. King Alexander last year as system president and chancellor of the Baton Rouge campus.

To find its diamond, the board violated the state's Public Records Law and the public's trust. Even so, Alexander -- who left California State University, Long Beach to take his newly combined position -- has so far proved to be just what the beleaguered university system needs.

I was wrong about him. I argued that the rotten job search could only produce rotten results. That was incorrect, although it is still farcical to argue that the search was legal because Alexander was the sole applicant. NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and the Baton Rouge Advocate will, I hope, prevail in their lawsuit to uncover the names of those considered for the job.

Why do I say Alexander was the right choice? For one thing, hiring him has allowed the school to hit the reset button with Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Legislature. "We've had a good working relationship," Alexander says of Jindal. Say what you will about the leaders who preceded Alexander, you cannot say they had a productive relationship with the governor. Much of that was Jindal's fault. His attacks on higher education were brutal and unfair.

It wasn't long after he arrived -- shortly after I suggested he was the wrong choice -- that I met with Alexander over coffee. (An amiable man, his instinct is to reach out to critics, not ignore or alienate them -- a lesson Jindal might learn.) When I suggested that he promptly demonstrate his independence from the governor, Alexander wisely responded that he wouldn't allow the university's history with Jindal to impede his work of rebuilding LSU.

Begin to rebuild it, he has. That's not to say that LSU is returning to its glory days (when were those, exactly?). Still, Alexander has righted the ship, earned the trust of legislators and seems to enjoy a decent relationship with Jindal. Some of that means occasionally giving Jindal more praise than he deserves and enduring ridicule of critics like me.

More than anything, however, it's been Alexander's tangible successes that suggest that -- if the school can keep him -- he might find a way to turn LSU into a more-respected and better-funded university.

Alexander clearly recognizes that he inherited a school with little political capital. He's worked hard to build bridges at the state Capitol. He's working on unifying the LSU system so its 10 campuses and divisions speak with one strong voice in Washington, "so our federal legislators know which [priorities] are most important to us."

He wants to employ the power and influence of the Tiger Athletic Foundation and the LSU Foundation to enhance the university's standing across the state.

Perhaps more than previous leaders, he's recognized the utility of the Agriculture Center and its research stations and parish offices to extend the system's reach into far-flung parishes. He's also dedicated to reestablish LSU's presence in New Orleans, where he believes "we've lost our presence" beyond health care.

Alexander also enjoyed what he calls "the best" legislative session for higher education "in five years. That's not saying much. He admits that funding for higher education is not yet "robust." But he believes the days of deep cuts are over. Last year, and now this year, he has found a way to give the faculty long-overdue raises. He says the school is no longer bleeding high-profile professors.

Now, with the help of Washington, he hopes to force states like Louisiana to begin re-investing in higher education. Alexander agrees with those, including President Obama, who want to link federal aid to higher education to "maintenance of effort" by the states, providing incentives for them to reinvest. "We need the federal government regulating this," he says. The federal government spends $160 billion each year on student loans and grants. Perhaps some of that funding, he says, should be contingent on increased state support.

He also supports the Obama administration's proposal to rate universities on affordability, graduation rates, student earnings and how well they serve low-income students. "The rating system is about identifying the good guys from the bad guys," he says.

Alexander has a tough job and he's paid well for it -- more than $600,000 a year -- so the expectations on him are, and should be, exceedingly high. I was among those convinced that no one hired by this LSU board could turn around the state's flagship university. It's too soon, of course, to say that Alexander has done that, but my early judgment on him was wrong.

He may be the right person at the right time.

Robert Mann, an author and former U.S. Senate and gubernatorial staffer, holds the Manship Chair in Journalism at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. Read more from him at his blog, Something Like the Truth. Follow him on Twitter @RTMannJr or email him at bob.mann@outlook.com.